Last year, Metroland announced that it would begin operating under a new digital-only business model, ending its physical flyers. This week, the media publisher revealed that it had teamed up with Flipp in order to bring the digital flyer company’s weekly discounts and deals from local brands to its digital platforms.

Under the new partnership, Metroland will run commercial content and interactive ads about savings from Flipp partner brands (including Coca-Cola, P&G, Danone and Keurig) in its newsletters and on Save.ca, the publisher’s shopper platform. Readers who want to dig deeper and build their shopping cart will need to log in to the Flipp app.

Last September, Metroland stated that it would seek protection and attempt a restructuring under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. It attributed the changes to “unsustainable financial losses stemming from the changing preferences of consumers and advertisers,” criticizing digital giants like Google and Meta of taking the vast majority of ad revenue in Canada. The restructuring represented the loss of about 60% of Metroland’s total workforce.

Garrett Royds, SVP of business development and partnerships at Flipp, tells MiC that the partnership gives Canadian brands and advertisers the opportunity to reach Metroland readers digitally with localized offers. “We’re now also able to provide Ontarians access to promotional content from our large ecosystem of Canadian brands and retailers who were impacted by Metroland’s decision to reduce print circulation in the fall. Together we’re offering digital solutions to brands, retailers, and shoppers alike.”

Torstar (which owns Metroland) chief revenue officer Brandon Grosvenor says the partnership will bring value to the organization during a period of restructuring. The move will also help Metroland capture the attention of marketers outside its network. “Advertisers can reach more hyper local consumers in a captive and trusted environment,” says Grosvenor, adding that Metroland reaches more than 65 million unique visitors per month.

“We are moving to where consumers are. Digital platforms ore overwhelmingly replacing traditional ones for utility-based local content,” says Grosvenor. “We have the unique ability to continue our community journalism while augmenting with the tools and resources local communities need and want.”